IF YOU ARE WONDERING

In case you are wondering why I haven't posting anything for the past several days, please let me explain why.

This past Thursday my former son-in-law died. Given this, baseball, the Phillies and other such matters just don't seem important to me as my thoughts have been as far away from sports and whether Ryan Howard sucks as they can be. When they do I'll resume my rantings.

I met Neil many years ago when he began dating Scott's sister when they both attended Marple-Newtown High School. They must have been struck by the same thunderbolt that got Michael Corleone in The Godfather when he laid eyes on the young Sicilian girl. I think they call it love at first sight, and from the time they started dating it became apparent that they would stay together and eventually they were married.

Neil was always a gentleman when it came to his relationship to Scott's mother and me, and the guy had a wonderful sense of humor. He also had a strong desire to be a success and had the guts to start his college education at night where he worked his butt off and was finally admitted to the day program at St. Joe's where he graduated a few years later. Those who go right into college upon their high school graduations have no idea at how hard a guy like Neil had to work. While no dummy, Neil wasn't the sort of genius student who was handed a free ride either. He also didn't have rich parents to pave the way for him. He worked hard, saved his money for tuition, and I was always quite proud of Neil for his accomplishment.

I hadn't seen or spoken with Neil in many years when Scott informed me of his death. I have spent the past several days thinking of him and must say that the world is a lesser place without him. My memories of Neil stop in the late 80's and early 90's but I wanted to acknowledge how wonderful he was to my son when I wasn't around due to my separation from Scott's Mom. He stepped right in and played the role of big brother. I was always grateful to Neal for that, and regret that I never got the opportunity to thank him.

To show the man's sense of humor, let me get on the Wayback Machine and travel to Galveston, Indiana sometime in the 1980's. Every year on December 26th we would pile into the car and begin what seemed like hundred hour drive to Grandma Callie's house where we would have a family Christmas event. On this particular occasion, Neil made the trip so that he could meet the Indiana part of Marci's family.

In case you have never been to Indiana in December, let me tell you that it is really cold out there that time of year. Chances are the ground would be covered with snow and ice. We are normally spoiled with early winter here in the greatest city in the world, but not out there. Winter comes early and stays late in Galveston, but never touches the inside of Grandma Callie's house. Grandma Callie sets her thermostat at tropical. In her house it could be zero degrees outside, but in her living room it felt like August. The only relief one could find was to go into the enclosed Florida room where there was no heat. I would spend a lot of time sitting in the cold of that space. Sure it was cold, but at least I wasn't sweating. On this trip, Neil would hang out with me as he seemed to dislike the temperature in the house as much as I did. I remember what he said while we sat in that cold room. Neil looked at the doorway to the room, got up and stood with one leg in the house and one in the Florida room, turned to me and said..."Mr. Alberts, when a warm front meets a cold front it usually rains...if we leave the door open it should start raining in a couple of minutes in the doorway." After his comment he sat back down and watched the doorway - he had intentionally left the door open, as if was fully expecting it to rain. We never got to see if he was right because someone felt the cold air and closed the door admonishing us for letting the cold come into the house. We had a good laugh. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday.

Neil left this world much too soon, but whenever I think of him I will smile. The Neil I knew twenty some years ago was a warm, caring, mensch.

Be at peace Neil.